A TEENAGER is recovering in hospital after a horror fall down a 30ft ravine.

Scott Russell is said to be in a "stable" condition in Bury General Hospital where he is being treated for a punctured lung and broken ribs.

The 16-year-old fell from a rope swing last Thursday (August 12). The youngster, of Wren Drive, Bury, tumbled into a rocky ravine at Chesham Woods near the town's Hercules Farm.

He lost his grip on the rope and crashed to the ground, smashing into rocks.

Stephen Bagwell (13) of Fern Grove West , who witnessed the fall, said that Scott's face swelled like a basketball and he was struggling for breath.

His friends alerted the emergency services and Scott, a former pupil at Broad Oak High School, was discovered semi-conscious at the bottom of the ravine. Firemen stretchered the injured boy to a waiting ambulance and he was taken to Bury General Hospital.

He was transferred to the Royal Preston Hospital before returning to Bury's Norris Ward. His injuries were complicated by the fact the teenager suffers from asthma.

Scott of Wren Drive, Bury, was unable to talk about his accident due to the severity of his chest injuries.

However, his mother, Zena, said: "He is lucky to be alive."

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